Steven Avery
Steven Allen Avery, born on July 9, 1962 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, U.S., is the main subject of the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer. A former car mechanic, Steven Avery has now spent over 30 years of his life in prison. In his teenage years Avery was convicted for burglary and theft. In his twenties, Avery was convicted for animal cruelty and for an attempted rape of a prominent local woman named Penny Beerntsen on Lake Michigan Beach, as well as being convicted for driving a sheriff deputy's wife off the road and pointing a loaded rifle at her. For the latter offense Avery had to serve six years in prison concurrently with the 32 years for the former offense. In 2003, 18 years after his conviction, Avery was released due to DNA evidence pointing to a different perpetrator. Following his release Avery demanded between 2,000,000 to 36,000,000 dollars for his wrongful conviction through a civil lawsuit. In 2005, while still working on a case against the State, a local female photographer went missing. Her last known location was Avery’s Auto Salvage. Police investigation of Avery's area resulted in the discovery of various items of evidence. In 2007, four years after his release, Steven Avery was again convicted. Early life Steven was born in 1962 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin to Allan and Dolores Avery. Since 1965 his family had their own business; Avery's Auto Salvage - a 40-acre property outside town where the whole family lived. Avery had three sibling: an older brother named Charles (“Chuck”), a younger sister named Barbara (“Barbara”) and a younger brother named Earl. He attended public schools in nearby Mishicot and Manitowoc, where his mother said he went to an elementary school "for slower kids". According to one of his lawyers in 1985, school records showed that his IQ was 70 and that he "barely functioned in school". On 24 July 1982, roughly three weeks after turning 20, Avery married Lori Mathiesen, a single mother of son Jason. Together they had four children: Rachel, Jenny, and twins Steven and Bill. Early crimes and allegations *In March 1981, at age 18, Avery was convicted of burgling a bar with a friend. They managed to get inside through a window that Avery had previously broken and stealing two cases of beer, a tool box, change from the pool table and electronic games, and prepackaged sandwiches. Once they were inside, Avery and his friend broke open three bags of charcoal and poured them over the floor and pool table, dumped boxes of cigars on the floor, removed clocks from the wall and smashed them, and smashed numerous other items on the floor- including the cash register, bar glasses, a pizza oven, a typewriter, liquor bottles, and coffee pots. After serving 10 months of a two-year sentence in the Manitowoc County Jail, he was released on probation and ordered to pay restitution. *A few months after his release, now late 1982, at age 20, two men admitted that, at Avery's suggestion, they threw Avery's cat "in a bonfire and then watched it burn until it died", after Avery had poured gas and oil on it. Avery was found guilty of animal cruelty and was jailed until August 1983. "I was young and stupid, and hanging out with the wrong people", Avery said later, of his first two incarcerations. In Making a Murderer Avery said he himself was the one who threw to cat over the fire and caused it to catch fire. *In 1982 or 1983 Avery allegedly raped his babysitter Jean. Jean was laying on the couch, when Avery came over and began fondling her. When Jean said "no" Avery put his hand over her mouth and told her that "if you yell or scream there will be trouble." Jean said there was sexual intercourse and that it lasted about 15~20 minutes. Jean told some family members about the incident, but didn't tell the police about it. After the Halbach murder Jean provided witness testimony about the incident to the prosecution and she said she was willing to testify against Avery at trial. *In January 1985, at age 22, Avery ran his cousin's car off to the side of the road. After she pulled over, Avery pointed a loaded gun at her. Avery was upset that she had been spreading rumors about him masturbating on the front lawn, which he stated was not true. Avery maintained that the gun was not loaded and that he was simply trying to stop her from spreading rumors about him. He was sentenced to six years for "endangering safety while evincing a depraved mind" and possession of a firearm. Wrongful attempted rape conviction In 1985 a prominent local woman named Penny Beerntsen was jogging on Lake Michigan Beach. As she passed a tree on the beach a man near the tree grabbed her and pulled her into the woods where he sexually assaulted her. Avery was arrested after the victim identified him in a photo line-up and later a live line-up. Avery proved, using a time-stamped receipt and 16 alibi witnesses that it would be nearly impossible for him to commit the crime. He was charged and ultimately convicted of rape and attempted murder, then sentenced to 32 years in prison. Appeals in 1987 and 1996 were denied by higher courts. Release Murder of Teresa Halbach